BELOW THE SPRUCE

I’m currently reading Jon Paul Fiorentino’s collection of poems entitled Hello Serotonin (2004, Coach House Books). The poems are an interesting commentary on modern Western society, especially that of the 20-30 something age group. In a world where the “new” passes by and is replaced daily, stress and a nervous preoccupation with one’s situation, relationships, and understanding of this crazy 21st century environment can lead to problems of a personal and social nature. These considerations are at the core of Fiorentino’s book.

As the collection’s title hints, there is an strong element of the physical in these poems. The poet breaks down the basic processes of thought and memory (hard enough to understand from a scientific perspective) into such foci as neurotransmitters, astrocytes, receptors, and dopamine, to name a few. There is a sense of trying to comprehend one’s nature and the nature of one’s comprehension. In some cases (“Astrocytes”, and “Let’s Here It For Hydroxytryptamine”, for example) the diction and imagery can reach a level of denseness that leaves the reader stumbling, perhaps losing his bearings for a moment, but this should not be seen as a fault in the work. In these poems one gets a true representation of how difficult it can be to navigate throughout fast moving, highly technological lives.

This also leads to the mention of various neurostimulators, drugs, and the “drip” we experience in waking or making it into work in the morning: “.drip into office. / .every thrush needs tonic. / . hush into a commerce wake. / . everyone is cash-strapped.” (from “Thrush Hour”). It’s almost as if to come through each day one needs a constant IV drip or supply of mood-enhancing modifiers. This can be taken as a negative commentary on the lower ends of life, but one can also see a hint of a cure, existence itself as a kind of medicine and the poet as doctor and diagnosis: “The dreams and scrawls of / excitable speech – the wounds / creak open on every page / like extended-release pills.” (from “Let’s Burn Down The Author”).

As I make my way through the rest of Fiorentino’s well written technicals and engaging work, I think, “He’s showed me the what and the how, now I can’t wait to see where he is taking me”. I’ve already formed the addiction and I’m not going to be so fast to kick it.

Originally appeared in Iota (U.K.).

CAN YOU RIDE HORSES THERE?
for Karen

The brook plash, the wings of a robin through air,
wind as it wraps around your ears, head,
through long auburn hair, how sunlight
skipping on water has a sound all its own
you can not hear.

_______The rock you sit on, damp and hard
_______sure beats a hospital bed.

As you dangle purple toenails in the cool wet,
Bowering Park passes you by like a nineteen year old
in a Mustang booming hip hop down the street,
muffled in the distance.

You feel like falling just to know what it is
to hit the ground

______________maybe from a window—
the pause it creates, that space
within a coma,

______________the world passing by
while a machine breathes for you,
your mind filled with trails, paths, rivers,
palominos and the tempo of hooves
your hair strained through wind.

______Can the unconscious tune in
______to our static?

And suddenly words are so rare,
and he’s there in blue sheets and a johnny coat,
in every i, every u, his name
like the punch of a kick drum—

unconscious, his mind probing
wavelengths for something to clasp,

or something more intimate—

______a steady gait, hooves on gravel.

Back to Poems

Currently I’m reading David Mattingly’s An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire (Penguin Non-classics). Mattingly gives the reader a run down of the social, economic and military characteristics of British society and culture during the time leading up to and during the Roman invasion of Britain. Much of the information provided uses either source documentation (Tacitus for example) or archaeological evidence to support assumptions and events presented in the book. Due to the nature of Roman advance and fort/town construction practices, much of the evidence used in the first third of the book is Roman centered. It is true that Roman activity would have been better documented and sources for British activity scarce, except, of course, where recorded in imperial writing.

Thus far the book has taken a look at the demographics of Britain during during the first centuries B.C. and A.D. noting where dominant groups or clusters of Britons were located. The Roman advance is then placed against this backdrop. There is discussion of the “client kingdoms”, those that were independent, but showed allegiance to the Emperor in Rome. The study of coinage and iconography at the time sheds much light on which kingdoms were closely associated with Rome and which were less so.

I have just finished a section on the Roman military, fort construction, and the Hadrian and Antonine walls. There is much evidence referred to based on archaeology and earthworks which give ample support to the Britano-Roman narrative.

I look forward to the rest of this book.